Chromebook Keepers: Fried Ways to Keep, Store, and Manage Chromebooks, Idea 1

In our district, we wanted to spend as much money as we could on Chromebooks, and though we thought the Chromebook cart was mighty spiffy, it was also mighty expensive, so teachers have found all sorts of creative off-label ways to store Chromebooks. I hope to publish several more photos and ideas, so stay tuned! If you have a great storage solution, please let me know in the comments or contact me using the contact form on this blog. I'd love to feature your creative solution.

I'm not sure whose great idea this was, maybe Mrs. Brenda Schultz herself! If it was yours please let me know and I'll be glad to edit this entry to give you all the credit this great idea deserves!

Here are some organizers similar to the one pictured above. 

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Fried Questions: The Question Slip

Part of transitioning to being the "guide on the side" is helping students become more reliant on each other and themselves than on you (the teacher). The Question Slip is a great option to wean students off your nurturing care and help them become more self and team reliant. Here's how it works, after ALLLL the directions are given, and you have asked many times if there are any more questions, and every hand has gone down, you hand out THE QUESTION SLIP, perhaps two per team. When I first tried this technique, I made a ton of copies and meticulously cut them all apart expecting to use many pages of slips per day. I handed them out, with a bit of trepidation but a lot of hope. Throughout the day, I waited to receive a returned question slip . . . but it almost never happened. In fact, I don't think I ever made another set of copies in my teaching career. However, I heard lots of great conversations, like this one (fictionalized with truthiness):

Albert: "Hey, I need you guys to sign this. I've got to as Mrs. Mayer a question!"
Marie: "Seriously? WHAT do you need to ask?"
Albert: "I need to know how long this needs to be. I mean like do we have to do three pages for four or ten or, like, what?"
Marie: "Dude! She told us that like FOUR times! It's as long as we need it to be! The grade comes from the rubric, not from how long it is! SIT DOWN. We ain't signing that slip!"

Of course Marie says these things with all the love and care of a classmate, but the best part of it is that Marie says it and not Mrs. Mayer. The only potential downside to Question Slips is the possible perception on the part of parents that you do not want to help their students. Reassure them that this is NOT the case. Students have time EACH DAY in whole group to ask any questions about ANY thing; however, question slips do help students become more self-reliant and are part of learning to work independently.

Please, even if you don't think this will work, trust me and give it a try. It changed my life as a teacher and after a time or two, I didn't need the slips because kids got it. Thinking for themselves was ok---even desirable, and this little slip of paper was all they needed to help them realize that they had what they needed ALL the time.

© Amy Mayer, @friEdTechnology, The Original WOW! Academy www.friEdTechnology.com Please copy and use freely!

Get the Question Slip file in Google Doc form here.

Interested in attending The ORIGINAL WOW! Academy and becoming a WOW! Master Teacher? Email me and let me know using the contact form in the top right and I'll put you on my mailing list.

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What's the Difference Between Doing Projects and Project Based Learning?

Do you have ideas that should be added to this list or do you notice something that needs to be changed? Please let me know in the comments and you will see the document form of this list change accordingly.

Here's the Google Doc version of this file.

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Analog Twitter Project Templates (Printables)

The term "Analog" means pre-digital. For example, the wristwatch that has dials and gears is an analog watch. Analog Twitter is non-digital Twitter. This kind of activity is usually used with students too young to participate in the "real thing," without adequate access to technology, or by students learning how to Tweet.

To do the Analog Twitter Project, print out the Mr. Stickman's example Tweet here (seen above) and use it to teach your students about the Tweet, then print out the templates for Tweets here and have students get busy composing some Tweets.  Create a space in your room (or even better, outside your classroom in the hallway) for the Analog Twitter Feed wall. You can use this sign to advertise the space. Hang your student's Tweets on the Analog Twitter Feed Wall. After many Tweets have been posted, give students a few Favorite and Retweet Stickers to use, then have them go into the hall and read through the Tweets. After they've read everyone's work, Tweeters should use their stickers to show their approval of their favorite Tweets. The most favorited and Retweeted Tweets should be moved to the Trending section.

This activity can be used to teach digital citizenship, writing, and even technology skills. Wouldn't students be ready for the real thing after a few Twitter sessions with this analog tool?  What else can it teach? I know there's more! Please comment on this post and let me know.

All of the templates for this activity can be found in this Google Drive folder.

I didn't invent the Analog Twitter Project, I just made some templates for you to use in your classroom. I hope you enjoy them and send me pictures if you decide to use the templates!

Some Twitter "Rules" To Teach: What should be added? Please comment below and let me know!

Update: Right after I posted, I heard from my Twitter friend, Dan McDowell, @danmcdowell, who teaches high school and has done some HILARIOUS and educational Twitter projects with his history students. You really have got to check them out!


Historical Tweets Presentation

Historic Tweets about Europe in the 1400-1600s Doc

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friEdTechnology Got an Android: Switching from an iPhone 4s to a Galaxy Note 2

I've been a die hard iPhone fan for years, but for my 41st birthday tomorrow I decided to get a Galaxy Note 2. The iPhone withdrawal pangs have almost stopped now, so it is with barely shaking hands that I write . . .

I like the Galaxy Note 2.

I'm impressed.

Here are the features that won me over. I don't even understand why I like some of them, but sometimes these things are more about how one feels than what one thinks.

1. I like the way the water ripples on the home screen when I unlock the phone. You can sort of feel it. It's cool. I can show it to people who have iPhones and they feel sort of jealous.

2. I like the way you see the icons at the bottom on the unlock screen and can open the application you want as you unlock the phone. For example, let's say I want to unlock my phone because I have a text message. The text message icon on the bottom of my phone has a little 1 on its edge. I can touch, hold, and drag up on that icon and instead of being taken to the home screen of my phone, I am taken directly to the new text. Nice.

3. I like the stylus. I know Steve Jobs hated the stylus, but I am not Steve Jobs and have never even dressed as him for Halloween (though I'm not ruling it out.--it would probably be better than the redneck costume I donned in 2010.)

But anyway, I like the ability to draw, and the touch sensitivity is amazing. My signature and handwriting looks like artwork, and that's not a compliment to my skills. It's just slick. I keep reading the smoothness of the device is "like butter," which I promptly translate into "like buttah" in my head.

4. I am amazed by the shape recognition. When you click on that little shape recognition icon then draw a shape, the Galaxy Note 2 makes it look good for you. Example . . .

5. It's no secret that I love Google Tools, and that's really the main reason I switched to the Android OS. When I went to the Google Teacher Academy in New York recently and stayed in Chelsea, I tried to use my new (at the time) Apple map to get me to the office where I needed to be. My iPhone 4s told me it was SIX MILES away. Of course I promptly used my non-integrated Google map to double check . . . .3 miles away, right around the corner. That could have been the turning point for me.

6. Another turning point was Siri. I had high hopes for you, girl, but you can't understand ANYthing I say when I am in the car.  NOT that I text and drive, but sometimes I might like to add a note at a stoplight. Largely, that's a no go with Siri. I have higher hopes for Doreen---that's what I've decided to call my Android lady.

7. Another thing I think is really amazing, and your iPhone does this too now, is Google+ Instant Uploads. Here's how it works: I take a picture with my phone, then as soon as I hit wifi/plug in (or whatever parameters I set), the picture is automatically uploaded to a private spot in my Google+ account at full quality. That's UH MAZE ING.

8. Last but not least, I am amazed by the Google drive capabilities on this phone. Check out this widget:

In case you can't read that handwriting, fabulous as it is, you can switch accounts on the Google Drive without signing out---true switching, pull up starred documents, and create a new document right from the widget. I will actually be able to present from Google Drive with this thing as well because it's so gigantic you could see it from SPACE.

Regrets?

Let me be clear to those of you who are still reading, since seriously, you are really interested in this topic, I do miss some things about the iPhone, and I would never say never about having one again. I love the iPhone. I still miss it a little bit, including the group texting, which I thought was nuts when I first tried it, and especially the happy pretty emoticons which I can't see properly anymore, TweetList, which is my favorite Twitter app on the iDevice, and all of the expensive and numerous apps I now own but don't use.

I'm sure there's more. If you're interested in hearing the rest of the saga, please comment, +1, Like, Tweet or whatever you do to show that sort of thing and I'll keep blogging about it.

Image posted on Google+ by Max Huijgen

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Best of the Web 2.0 Tools for Education 2013

Every year I make a Web 2.0 Tools Prezi for the Tech Ninja Conference at the local Region 6 Education Service Center. Below you'll find this year's version of the presentation, greatly pared down from past years. There are getting to be so many great tools that it's more important to know which ones are best than it is to know which ones exist. Hope you enjoy it!

Web 2.0 Tools 2012 on Prezi

Preview for email subscribers:

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A Vision for the Classroom Today

I am inspired to write this vision by John Maxwell’s book Developing the Leader Within You, specifically the chapter entitled “The Indispensable Quality of Leadership: Vision.” I realized that what my WOW! Academy probably does best is to convey a vision, but I can’t offer that to every teacher right now, so I thought I would write a little story to try to convey some elements of what, in my mind, is our goal in this education shift we seek. I have to admit I borrowed heavily from a backward glance at my own classroom experiences, which have attained a rosy glow from years of time passing between me and them. If you are my former student, then know that while some details are accurate (yes, that’s you Jenni), others are brought in for a purpose. Justin really did drive the principal out of the room, but not quite as sweetly as in this story and not in this same class.

It’s November in Mrs. Stein’s class, the week before Thanksgiving. The bell has just rung to go to the next class, yes, that’s right, even in this idyllic teaching world, Mrs. Stein works in a traditional school building using the old factory model. She’d like to change that, of course, but all she can really do is manage her own little world between the bells. As for now, it’s going to be a struggle to get her students to leave. She’ll hear, “Mrs. Stein, just a few more minutes. This project is due day after tomorrow and we’ve just got to work on this one last thing.” Delanie is always her toughest case when it comes to leaving. She suspects Delaine purposefully puts in her earbuds before the bell rings each day to retain plausible deniability of the event. “What?” she says innocently as Mrs. Stein gently pats her back, “It’s time to go, Delanie,” and as she glances at the screen, “Wow, nice work. I can see why you don’t want to walk away from it.” There isn’t a minute between classes when Mrs. Stein’s classroom is empty. Already students from the next section have started pouring in. They immediately gravitate to their teammates and their preferred workstations and tables. Most of the students bring their own laptops from home, preferring to use their own computers, but a few students pick up computing devices when they walk through the door. Jon grabs an iPad because he’s editing a movie he and his team shot last week while Mirabelle grabs a Chromebook; she’s polishing up a Sliderocket for her team.

Mrs. Stein doesn’t “start” class, and she suffers a momentary pang when she realizes she actually never made it into the hall for duty between classes. It took her so long to get the last group to leave then these guys were already here working . . . she jets into the hall and issues a couple of admonishments to some students who are still lingering about. She wonders why other teachers don’t try teaching the way she does so all the kids will be on time for their classes, if nothing else.

Day after tomorrow is a big day for Mrs. Stein and her students. They’re presenting projects they’ve worked on for almost a full six weeks. The superintendent is coming, and though that doesn’t impress her students much, Mrs. Stein knows her teaching techniques are, well, let’s just say different. Jenni’s team is already on the phone with Dr. Howard DeVore from California. He’s a world expert in the medical condition now known as “intersex”. It could be a bit controversial for this small Texas town, but the students on the research team were so intrigued by the topic that she couldn’t turn down their proposal. For weeks they’ve been emailing with and calling Dr. DeVore, and he’s worked with them patiently to help them understand a condition he was born with himself and we have all now been educated to understand affects almost 2 in 100 individuals and has led to untold suffering even in modern times.

Larry’s team has been working to understand the science of the black hole. They began by wondering how black holes could be known when no one has ever seen or experienced one. Mrs. Steins’ true suspicion is that the research project began during the viewing of the most recent Star Trek movie, but that’s okay, too. For this team of science geeks, the study of black holes has generated discussions on string theory she can’t follow.

About the time the room looks like complete mayhem, while Mrs. Stein is observing a group studying why cloned animals don’t live very long, Mr. Johnannsen, the Assistant Principal and Mrs. Stein’s evaluator comes into the room. Johannsen is famous for “dollars for answers,” which he believes is a great and unique educational practice. Oh geez, Mrs. Stein thinks, what’s he going to do in this room with these kids? Johannsen wanders around trying to make himself known and get a group of students . . . any group of students . . . to pay some attention to him. He has a wad of bills in his hands. He veers toward Justin who turns and says, “Hello Mr. Johannsen. I’m sorry we don’t have time to answer questions today. We have a presentation day after tomorrow. Thanks for coming by though.” Mrs. Stein turns away to hide a snicker and Johannsen wanders and listens for a few more minutes before leaving the room.

Two days pass in much the same way. Teams come and go, work and then must be prodded out. They show up after school and when Mrs. Stein arrives in the morning, there are already pockets of students in her room . . . it’s not officially “allowed,” but these are “good kids” and everyone knows it. Were they “good kids” before they were in her class or are they just “good kids” now because they’re always in here working. She doesn’t know, but either way, Mr. Kenny, the custodian, lets them in before she ever gets to work. There are no rehearsals for presentations this time, every minute is needed for planning and preparation. The only group that worries Mrs. Stein, a veteran teacher of Project Based Learning, though she doesn’t have a name for it, is that intersex group and the fact that the sophomores down the hall are coming in as an audience. Oh yes, and the superintendent. What if those kids start giggling and it all falls apart? Well, she thinks, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

On presentation day, the students are indeed ready to go with presentations and videos of all kinds as well as notecards and . . . are those some shaking hands? As unlikely as it seemed the day before, they now appear basically ready, prepared, and, dare she say, a little more polished than at the beginning of the year? The moment has arrived, and Jenni starts the controversial presentation. She sounds like a doctor, Mrs. Stein’s favorite kind of doctor, the kind you can actually understand. The room is silent as she explains the background of the project. Next Jessica takes over talking about their interviews with Dr. DeVore, and finally Mel finishes up with the call to action. The odds are that someone in this room will someday be the mother, father or at the very least, close family member of an intersex child. What should you and your family do? The answer is “nothing.” There is nothing wrong with intersex children and every child must be given the chance to develop their own identity without the intervention of surgery until secondary sexual characteristics develop and the child is able to choose whether surgery is preferable.

They did it! All the way through the presentation and not so much as a smile. Mrs. Stein wonders if the audience is shocked or impressed . . . she can’t tell, but the team is glowing. They’ve explained something important in a way that makes sense to everyone and is sensitive to the topic and the people involved. Now THAT is a successful “research paper.”

At the end of the day, events like this are what keep Mrs. Stein signing up to be a teacher year after year. Tomorrow a new project starts, modern literature. Students will begin by individually researching best sellers from the past 15 years and trying to convince peers to join them in a reading team. Right now, Mrs. Stein doesn’t know how that will go. Will they pick drivel like Twilight or something worthy of discussion like The Story of Edgar Sawtelle? Hopefully the rubric she’s slaved over will help them make the “right” choice, and anyway, she’ll be here to steer them in the direction they “ought” to go. Ultimately though, Mrs. Stein realizes that this education thing is not really up to her. She’s just here to help.

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Introduction to Google Drive for Educators

Introduction to Google Drive presentation. Please comment and let me know what I should add!

Also check out this doc from my Twitter friend Rae: Google Docs Basics

Rae Fearing

@RaeFearing

Ed Tech Coordinator, Former Bio Teacher, Leading Edge Certified, M.S. Science Education

Crescent City, Ca · http://edtechyness.blogspot.com/

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